WBEZ: Islamophobia is Growing in Chicago and Across the Country

“Fear of, and discrimination against, Muslims is on the rise nationwide, according to a new report by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding.

The study, released this week, includes an annual Islamophobia Index, conducted in collaboration with Georgetown University. It showed that negative public opinion of Muslims has increased in the United States in the past year.

The trend is mirrored in the Chicago area, according to Sufyan Sohel, deputy director and attorney at the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a civil rights group.

“We’re still running a 24-hour hotline at O’Hare airport, and we’ve seen the steady flow of calls since the [U.S.] Supreme Court upheld the Muslim ban last summer, and our office has seen a steady increase in reports of discrimination targeted at the Muslim-American community,” Sohel said.”

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